The former footballer appeared nearly 400 times for the club over 14 years, of which 150 he started on the bench and while he accepted he’d never be first choice ahead of Alan Shearer, he grew increasingly frustrated with his lack of matchplay.

He told FourFourTwo magazine: “Early on, Shearer was quite rightly the main man and I suppose I accepted the fact I was back up to him and Bellamy and that I’d be a sub more often than not.

“In Premier League history, only three or four players have made more substitute appearances than me – but do you know something? I hated the role.

“It really grinded on me.

“I’m seeing as being quite a laid-back guy, but I can tell you that after three or four years, I had a number of chats with various bosses about my role.

“I wasn’t afraid to tell them that I felt I wasn’t getting the opportunities I deserved.

“Don’t get me wrong, I never thought I should be ahead of Alan.

“But as the years wore on, I considered myself a first-team player and tried to make my case whenever I needed to.”

And Shola believes he should have scored more goals during his career.

Asked if he thinks he scored enough, he said: “No. When I look at my career record and see ‘70’ alongside my name, I realise that it should have been more.

“I really don’t like that stat. In my defence, I was never an out-and-out goalscorer – my game was as much about assists, bringing teammates into play and decoy runs putting the ball into the net.

“But I definitely wasn’t as ruthless as I should have been. I never had that killer instinct and selfishness of a natural striker.”